A Chance Encounter
by FlyingShoes135
Summary: Will Solace works at a carnival as a junior medic. He falls head over heels for his coworker, Nico di Angelo. Only problem is that his newfound friend, who works at the Haunted House attraction, seems to be invisible to everyone but Will.
1. The First Encounter

**This is my first fanfiction in a while, so please forgive me if it sucks, last time I was active was 2011. I've never been the biggest fan of Solangelo, but I do ship it and was haunted by this idea, pun unintended.**

Will raced through the carnival, dodging through the crowd of pedestrians and hoping to any spirit in the universe that karma was real and would favor him.

He yelled desperate apologies as he weaved through the crowd, running and twisting his torso between sweaty bodies and hot pretzels. _I cannot be late for work on my first_ day, Will thought. _I can't afford to get fired!_

"Whoa! Watch out, kid! Nobody's chasing you," a man called out as Will narrowly avoided crashing into his, thankfully empty, baby stroller.

"Sorry!" Will shouted. The moment of distraction was enough for Will to trip on his shoelace that in his haste, he hadn't bothered to tie. Will landed right on his ass by a sign advertising the Haunted House attraction.

He groaned and gazed upwards, where the sun had suddenly been blocked. His jaw went slack when he saw what was blocking the light, as it was definitely _not_ his floppy hair.

A boy around his age stood above him. He opened his mouth to ask, "Are you alright?"

Will noticed a slight Italian accent that caused butterflies to flutter in his stomach. The good kind of butterflies that appear in moments like unwrapping a present or right before a first kiss... Not that Will would know, probably being the only senior in high school who has graduated without kissing anyone at least once. In his defense, there weren't many gay people in his class, and Will had never exactly come out of the closet, despite living in Austin, a pretty LGBTQ friendly city, let alone in Texas.

The boy stared at him expectantly with colorless eyes like broken glass. Will realized that he had never responded to his question.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine! Sorry."

The corners of the boy's mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly as he asked, "You can see me? Why are you apologizing? There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Sorry, old habits... What do you mean, 'You can see me?' Of course I can see you!"

"Uh..."

"Are you part of the Haunted House attraction? You make a hot- I mean, a great ghost," Will asked, cursing himself for nearly calling a total stranger 'hot,' no matter how true it was.

"Er... One could say that," the boy replied.

"Oh, cool, we'd be coworkers!" Will stuck his hand out. "I'm Will Solace, junior medical assistant here."

The boy awkwardly shook his hand, "Um, I am Nico di Angelo." He mussed up his (already messy) dark hair. "And you're about to be late."

"Crap- it's my first day, too... Gotta go. I'll, uh, I'll see you around, right?"

"I hope so. I'd be obliged if you did not tell anyone you saw me, though," he said as Will was beginning to walk away.

The boy, Nico, spoke so formally for his age. It took Will a moment to respond, "Oh, duh, 'cause ghosts aren't supposed to be seen in broad daylight, right?"

When Will turned around, Nico wasn't there anymore. All that was left of him was a pale face quickly retreating into the darkness, with a finger over his lips as if warning him to stay quiet.


	2. The Waves

Nico wasn't quite sure what had caused him to ask WIll if he was alright. Nobody had ever seen him before, and he had given up on speaking to people who would just brush past him- or worse, through him. But something caused him to just instinctively look up at Will. Maybe it was his bright, golden hair, or his energetic presence. Nico didn't think it was that, but he wasn't going to account it to something as silly as fate.

Nico peeked down from the branch he was sitting in. Will was at the picnic bench below him, reading a book.

"What are you reading?" Nico asked timidly, remaining hidden within the shadows of a large oak tree.

" _The Waves_ ," Will replied. "By Virginia WoolfIt's my assigned summer reading. Actually, there's this one line that reminds me of you:

'Pale, with dark hair, the one who is coming is melancholy, romantic. And I am arch and fluent and capricious; for he is melancholy, he is romantic. He is here.'"

Nico was suddenly glad at the several feet of distance between them. That meant Will couldn't have seen the sudden flush of red across his cheeks.

It's been two days since they first saw each other, and like an overeager puppy, Will insists on visiting Nico, despite the latter never emerging far from the shadows.

Nico doesn't understand how Will still remains ignorant to Nico's condition. It is clear to anyone who can actually see, that Nico is a ghost. A real, not living, ghost, rather than a mere carnival attraction. Hasn't he noticed that the strange looks he receives while talking to Nico? And that none of the other coworkers know Nico by name?

Ultimately, though, Will does not need Nico. Nico needs Will. And it isn't just in the way he wishes he did, where sudden images of holding hands at the top of a ferris wheel flash through his mind.. Rather, in order to move on to the afterlife, ghosts must be needed. Have someone who depends on them, or do something heroic to save someone. Essentially, it requires some form of life. Where Nico's life was taken, he must save someone else's instead. And saving someone's life isn't easy. There aren't many people Nico can find who are about to die, or with huge emotional holes.

Nico bitterly thought back to the last person who had been able to see him and his sister. The stupid ocean eyed devil who stole his sister away. He couldn't summon any actual feelings of resentment, though. Eighty years was a long time to be stuck with one person for company. He knew his sister was becoming restless.

And then a dark haired boy with sea-green eyes waltzed into their lives.

"Hi," he had said. "I'm Percy Jackson. I've seen you around here before."

He was not at all charming. He was dorky and stupid, but he somehow attracted people like flies to honey. And Nico had not been any different.

He was the first person to see them and approach them.

He was also the reason Nico thought he would spend the rest of eternity alone. But now, Nico realized that maybe it wouldn't have to be so. He might finally be able to rejoin his sister.

For some reason, Nico felt a tug of hesitation. He wouldn't listen to it, though. He wouldn't trade his sister for anything. Not even a pretty boy with a smile like the sun.


	3. Summer Haze

After nearly a month of meeting with Nico during his breaks, Will was a little confused. He had mentioned the kid who worked the Haunted Mansion a few times, and yet nobody seemed to know him. Everyone that he had mentioned Nico to thought he was talking about someone else who worked that part of the carnival, or thought he was just messing with them.

What was even more confusing was Percy Jackson's reaction to the name Nico as he had casually asked a coworker about him, in hopes to find out more about Nico. Purely out of friendly curiosity, of course. Nothing more.

Travis had no idea who he meant, like everyone else, but for some reason, Percy had dropped his box of popcorn, staring in shock as the popcorn exploded at his feet, earning himself a dirty look from the people who were tasked to keep the food court clean.

"Nico?" Percy prompted.

Will felt his face burst into a smile. "Yeah, Nico di Angelo! Do you know him?"

Percy's face turned an ashen color, and he stuttered out, "Y-yes.. No! I mean… maybe?"

"Oh my gods, you're the first person I've talked to who even knows his name!"

If it was possible, Percy grew even more tense, a muscle popping in his jaw and eyes flickering nervously back and forth. "But, uhh… Nico uhh worked here ages ago, how do you know him?"

"What, no, I just saw Nico on a shift yesterday?" Will asked, confused.

Percy made a small yelping sound. "Um! I mean! Wrong Nico! I must be thinking of the wrong Nico! Y-yeah, now that I think about it, the Nico I knew had a different last name. Definitely."

Will tilted his head quizzically. "Uhh, okay? Funny coincidences, I guess."

"For sure, man, for sure! Definitely a coincidence! So odd how the world works, amirite?"

Will watched Percy's quickly retreating form dart out of the food court and back toward his station. Something was off, and he felt that he should probably get to the bottom of it. But for now, he was on break and wanted to go see Nico.

...

Will hesitantly stepped into the Haunted Mansion. He got by without being questioned because he was still wearing his MEDIC badge, which was nice, because he didn't really feel like paying for a ticket when he was already broke enough as it was. But buying a ticket would be a small price to pay to see Nico.

He felt that every day he saw another side to Nico. Like Nico was an onion, and the layers were slowly pulling themselves back in his presence.

Will crept slowly down the halls, peering into the door of one of the rooms only to see faded cobwebs and dusty fur coats. Nothing to be seen here.

"RAAAAAWWWRRRRR!" What Will had thought was a taxidermied bear turned to swipe its oversized claws at his face.

Will shrieked, hitting his head on the wall as he attempted to quickly turn around, running down the hall. He paused at the end of the hall, resting his elbows on his knees as he hunched over heaving for breath. It was _so_ embarrassing, and he was glad nobody was around to witness _that_ particular humiliation.

"Wow, something must've spooked you," a familiar voice said, filled with mirth.

Will straightened up. "Hey! Nico!"

The corners of Nico's mouth tugged upwards a bit at Will's enthusiastic greeting. "C'mon, let's go outside."

When the pair were outside, they watched the clouds move across the sky as the afternoon transitioned to evening beneath the shade of a large oak tree, casting the perfect golden hour over the pair.

Nico shifted to lean against the fake gravestone near where he was laying on the ground. "Did you know that most of the furnishings in the Haunted Mansion came from the same home?" Nico paused, seemingly collecting his memories before remarking, "It belonged to an Italian American family in the late 1930s. The father was wealthy, and tried to move them before the war, and he thought he got them to safety before they were murdered by another family member who wanted a greater part of the inheritance."

"Really? It's cool how you know about all this stuff," Will replied. "I guess working in a Haunted Mansion could come with a lot of interesting knowledge."

The two talked and talked, from things like McDonald's to old Greek myths. Somehow they circled back to the subject of the Haunted Mansion.

Will found himself dozing off in the warmth of the fading sun, listening to the pleasant hum of Nico, mentioning how the couches were from Venice, and the desk, a gift from some business associate…


End file.
